Canny Cat: Art, Crafts, Life!

Tuesday, 6 April 2010

Finished hand woven scarf

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I finished weaving my first scarf about two weeks ago (I have been battling the rainy weather to get a good photo of it). I’ve been wearing it every day (no, it’s not cold, but I want to get some use out of it before summer arrives!!). So far it’s held up really well.

The yarn itself was underspun, but it seems to suit weaving really nicely. The scarf is luxuriously soft, with a good drape. My woven scarf unexpectedly creases (though these creases to drop out quickly) – not something a knitted scarf would do, and so I think it must be to do with the weave structure itself rather than the yarn. Iiiiinteresting, as Mr Burns would say.

Technical Mumbo-Jumbo: The weft is a 4-ply commercial merino, with 104 “ends” that used not-quite 100g. I wove it on a standard 10dpi reed without any sort of selvedge. The purple warp is handspun BFL, and varies between 4-ply and DK using, again, not quite 100g.

Nothing’s sacred, sigh.

Catherine at 12:36 pm

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Monday, 15 March 2010

Loom-candy

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I managed to warp Shrek, my monster of a loom, before I went on holiday, but didn’t have time to make a start weaving until I got back on Sunday. This is the current state of affairs:

I opted for a pale grey commercial-spun merino for the warp. For the weft, I dug out the skein of heather-coloured Blue Faced Leicester that I spun last summer for Meagan to display on her stall at Fibrefest. The colours are amazing, aren’t they? That photo isn’t tweaked at all, that’s exactly how it looks. Delicious.

A lot of knitting was had on holiday (I can hear my sister groaning in despair), and I’m now up to the gusset on my gansey:

Howard was not happy that we went on holiday, not happy at all, and he made sure we knew it. He has spent the past several days following us from room to room, sleeping on our bed – keeping his little brown eye on us to make sure we’re not leaving again.

Fuzzy, however, is just pleased that the bathroom radiator has been turned back on. Sigh.

Catherine at 1:26 pm

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Sunday, 21 February 2010

First weaving!

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So I picked up another loom at the weekend – a Weavemaster 4-shaft – and also came away with a Dryad 2-shaft! Not bad for £30! The Dryad is in super condition and came ready-warped with orange cotton, so I grabbed some waste-yarn and got stuck in:

I’m finding that a raddle is a necessity – I don’t have one, and I’m really struggling to keep the edges even. I’m also finding that stick shuttles are a huge pain in the bum – I am spending more time fishing around in the warp trying to reach my shuttle than I am weaving – so a boat shuttle is another must.

There’s not a whole lot one can weave on a 2-shaft loom, however, and the weavemaster needs work. So, having mulled over the reality of my purchases, and taken account of the cost and amount of work that restoring them will take, I’ve decided to instead sell these looms on fleabay and buy a brand needs-no-work new one new.

My mother will be pleased to hear that I have been having a huge clear-out of craft supplies (can you believe Tom told me I was a fire hazard?!); it’s the first proper sort out I’ve had in several years – probably since before I learned to knit – and I’ve actually managed to de-stash my way to the price of a brand new loom in the space of three weeks. Shocking. (But in a good way.)

I sold some fabric, a whole heap of yarn and sacks of fleece that I knew I would never get round to using, along with a few “larger” items like my Golding Spindle – far too pretty to have been sitting in a cupboard for so many years; I am really pleased it’s gone to someone who will use and enjoy it. I stopped short of selling my Ashford Traditional (despite complaints about space from Tom). I barely use it now that I have my Joy, but I feel really attached to it since I bought it brand spanking new – it was me who waxed and assembled it, and it’s only ever been used by me. And it’s just so pretty! Howard agrees, see?

How could I say no to that face?

Catherine at 4:07 pm

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Monday, 23 November 2009

Quick n Easy Christmas Mitts

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Last weekend I went on a residential course at Urchfont Manor. It was billed as an “improvers” course so, rather than teaching us how to spin a thread, we got to play with different fibres and try drum-carder blending.

I made some great, quick mitts from my teensy bit of red yarn (merino, angelina and nylon). The lovely sparkly yarn and gold ribbon made me feel really festive, so I’ve posted the pattern is below for any last-minute gifters:

more ?

Catherine at 1:08 pm

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Monday, 27 July 2009

Spinning phase

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I seem to be going through something of a spinning phase at the moment.

Last weekend I spun up some grey merino from The Thylacine. It’s a bit underspun, I confess, as I’ve been spinning uber-chunky alpca for the past month. I do so love the colour though!

This weekend I’ve been spinning some purple Alpaca, also from The Thylacine. I spun 25g and Navajo plied it, but then decided it wasn’t the “look” I wanted for the project I have it earmarked for…

So I’m spinning up the remaining 75g (which should hopefully be plenty…) using a regular 2-ply:

Catherine at 3:44 pm

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Saturday, 25 July 2009

Fleece to Garment Day

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Last weekend, I went a long to the Guild’s Fleece to Garment Day.

This year’s event took place on Gina’s gorgeous Hampshire farm, using Bo the Blue-Faced-Cross’s first fleece to make a blanket. Bo had sadly died through the winter, so it was going to be something of a memory blanket.

First, Carole laid out the fleece and showed us how to skirt and grade it. We then pulled the whole thing apart and took a chunk to spin with “in the grease”.